The mission of Avalan Institute is to connect just and objective data, research, and strategy with productive organizations and agencies to impact change as it relates to social justice, with heightened focus on criminal justice, juvenile justice, and racial justice.

Discrimination impacts us all...

This photograph was taken at a demonstration in Washington D.C. shortly after the Iran Hostage Crisis in 1979 – where more than 60 Americans were held hostage by a group of Iranian students for 444 days at the American embassy in Tehran – in protest of President Jimmy Carter’s decision to allow the deposed Shah of Iran entrance to the U.S. for cancer treatment. The Hostage Crisis was more than that. Some saw it as a terrorist act to seize hostages, while others felt it symbolized a stance against American influence in Iran and a break with the country’s past prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Regardless of viewpoints and opinions- this was a political event, and like all political events the acts of a few caused blanketed judgements and generalizations to be casted on people on all sides of this difficult and complex situation.

There's a tendency within the Iranian community in Europe and America to take on an apathetic or removed position as it relates to civil and human rights struggles in our new western residences. However – as minorities and as people of color – our plight for equality is the same as that of so many others in America and throughout the west. We must stand shoulder to shoulder with all communities in the fight for equality and justice.

The Avalan Institute is committed to expanding awareness and providing tools for all communities to meaningfully engage in justice advocacy in America.